Friday, January 30, 2015

Is everybody workin' for the weekend? I'll be busy working through most of it, though with the Seahawks in the Superbowl again it feels like the entire state of Washington will be shutting down during the big game. I myself am not a sports fan so I'll be finding other things to spend my Sunday doing far away from the madness.

My card today is for the Tiddly Inks Frosty Feeling challenge. I've had Skater Wryn printed out and waiting to get on a card for ages so this was just the challenge I needed to make her happy. I colored her up to match the Snow Fun paper from Simple Stories... have I said how much I love those 4x6 cut a part papers? All you need is one little panel and it creates a quick and easy yet great looking background. It's like it does all of the design work for me, LOL! All I had to add was an old favorite... baker's twine, and a new favorite... sequins, and this card was done. :)

Thursday, January 29, 2015

I've got another Greeting Farm Valentine to share with you today. I know that I've made a Halloween card using the Cheeky Fairy digi (sorry, couldn't find her in the store to link up anymore) before but I couldn't resist coloring her up once again because I love me some Cheekies. I paired her up with old MME Tres Jolie papers, man they don't make 'em like that anymore. The pretty pastels are just delicious and I wanted Cheeky Fairy to match. So I gave her bubblegum pink hair and a chocolate and minty blue ensemble. Then I dotted her wings with gold Smooch to match the die cut sentiment that got the same Smooch treatment. The XOXO background was created by repeatedly stamping a small background stamp tone on tone on the pink cardstock. Which got me thinkin' that this card works for the Get Wordy challenge too... I'm not sure what the policy is on multiple entries over at the Farm Fresh challenge but I think I'm gonna throw this one into the ring as well.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

I hope everyone is fine and dandy today. I've got a long day ahead of me at work but I'm feeling pretty good. Lots to do and get done, hopefully I will be able to cross a bunch of things off my to-do list.

My card today features an older stamp from Lili of the Valley called Milly me and my dog. I guess I've had her for quite a while because I couldn't even find the stamp on their site to link up to. I modeled this pair of sweet swingin' pals after my sister Tracy and her new pup, Jinx. Jinx is so cute, half Westie half Maltese, all white except for a sprinkling of light brown "freckles" on her ears. With the image being such a scene all by itself I wanted to keep the rest of the card super simple. I'm kinda falling in love with my dies again for this very reason, especially the stitched looking ones. They add a great finishing touch on an otherwise CAS design.

Alrighty, I guess I should go get myself ready... another day, another dollar. :)TTYL!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Well, it seems that I'm switching to Valentine's mode in my card making now. It wasn't really a conscious decision that I made before hand but when I grabbed Wave Mae and saw that heart necklace she was wearing I naturally went in that direction. So I grabbed the Kiss Kiss paper pad by Crate and as soon as I found this paint chip looking print that had both 'smile' and 'wave' on it I knew I had found a winner. Mae was colored up to match the pretty pinks and I think she looks right at home amongst the soft and dreamy papers. The sentiment is a recent addition to my stash and was a must have since I'm a big Grey's Anatomy fan. I really love using unique and even quirky sentiments on my cards, they always make me smile. :)

Ok, I'm going to go grab some breakfast and get ready for work. Toodles!

Monday, January 26, 2015

Can you believe we are kicking off the last week of January already? Almost a full month back in the whole blogging and crafting gig and I feel like I'm hitting that familiar groove. Playing along in the challenges has helped... that's why I've got a card for another Farm Fresh Challenge over at The Greeting Farm. This week's theme is "Get Wordy" so I knew that I wanted to find a paper that had a great text print on it. After going through a couple Valentine themed paper pads I found the perfect paper. The 'We Go Together' paper pad from Pebbles had just what I needed. I paired it up with the sweet little SSSC Lavender stamp and a fun Kid Quote sentiment. Due to the nature of the challenge I decided to let that text print do most of the work though when I found the coordinating paper with the little heart cookies I couldn't help but cut a few out and even add one to Lavender's hand. Looks like she was hungry too, LOL! ;)

Friday, January 23, 2015

I'm playing in the Kraftin' Kimmie challenge today... just squeezing it in before the deadline later today. It is "anything goes" so how could I pass that up? At first I thought about inking up another of the winter fairies but as I was flipping through the binder Bella here caught my eye. Something about Bella with her two little kitties got me excited to finally get her on a card. I did a tiny bit of altering by wiping away the little skull in her hair bow and on her pocket. I just figured that the whole skull look didn't really jive with the pretty floral paper that I had chosen to pair her with. Per usual, I pulled my Copic colors from the paper and this time it also inspired me to pull out a Mint Copic Spica glitter pen to add the polka dots on Bella's dress to really match back to that print. I wasn't going for a spring time look on purpose but once I finished the card it had me longing for warmer weather. :)

Well friends, time for me to get movin' and get myself ready for work. Hope your weekend is a crafty one!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Is it ok if I've got another Greeting Farm card to share this week? I've had the idea to use one of the Monster Beans from the Spooky set on a Valentine percolating for a week or two and I couldn't wait any longer. It came to me while I was putting away stamps, being all sad because I didn't get around to using any of the fun Halloween stamps that I'd collected last year. That's when I saw this sentiment on the Monster Mash set from Lawn Fawn... hmmmm, hugs are just as nice as kisses for Valentine's Day if you ask me. ;)So I grabbed one of the sweet little Beans, colored him in pinks and reds then paired him up with some new Doodlebug Lovebugs paper as well. A couple hearts and a few sequins was all I needed to bring this fun Valentine together. :)

Well, I hate to post and run but I've got to get busy this morning. Laters!

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

It's been beautiful and sunny but super cold so far this week. I kinda love it because with the sun shining like that you can really appreciate how beautiful everything is when covered in a blanket of snow.

I suspect it is days like these that kinda inspired this card. Cool and frozen but with a splash of color that really pops and makes you smile. I grabbed the Friendly Hedgehog Gorjuss Girl stamp and paired her up with that birch tree print from Echo Park that I LOVE. What can I say, I'm a total sucker for paper prints that make for easy scene building with my stamps... they just make me happy. Because all of the papers were pretty monochromatic, instead of coloring this Gorjuss Girl to match I chose to give her a very pink ensemble. Now she really stands out during her winter stroll. :)

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Well thanks to Carisa, I've got another challenge to play along with as she directed me to the MFT weekly challenge blog. This week we are to follow a sketch which was just the jumping off point that I needed. I flipped through my binder of Pure Innocence stamps and came across Puppy Girl. I've had this sweet stamp for some time but I can't honestly remember if she's been inked up yet or not. Heck, I couldn't even find her in the MFT store anymore. In either case I really enjoyed coloring her up to match these new October Afternoon papers that I recently got... that cloud print is a particular favorite of mine. For some reason the warm colors in the papers had me thinking beagle when it came time to color her little pup and I think he's not looking half bad if I do say so myself. I stayed pretty true to the sketch which made this another quick and easy card.

Monday, January 19, 2015

I think I jinxed myself on Friday when I said we wouldn't have much snow for Winterfest. Turns out that we proceeded to get dumped on all day Saturday, which was great for the festivities but not for my aversion to driving through the white stuff. Luckily for me I also got the sunshine that I've been longing for all day Sunday which really helped clear the roads and lift my spirits.

With the winter wonderland outside I decided to follow suit with today's card which is also for the Farm Fresh "die-alicious" challenge over at TGF. I grabbed SSSC Day Out Anya, drew a couple lines at her wrists to give her long sleeves and paired her up with the Christmas collection from Lawn Fawn called Snow Day. I loved the little scene on this sheet of paper and it totally works for a non-Christmas card. As for the challenge I used three different dies... the Simon Says stitched rectangles and sentiment as well as the snowflakes from Memory Box. A bit of sparkle added to the snowflakes and this card was done.

Well, that's all I've got for today. I hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods!Toodles!

Friday, January 16, 2015

This is the first weekend of our town's annual Winterfest so things should be hopping. Ice sculptures are being created up and down the streets and even though we don't have much snow I think it should be cold enough that they don't melt too fast this year. Fun times even if I don't plan on taking the polar bear plunge into the lake, LOL!

Brrrr... just thinking about that icy water has me craving a warm cuppa cocoa. Kinda like Cuppa Mae here on my card for today. When I get new digi stamps I always print off a few right away and keep them in a file folder to make things quick and easy when it is time to color. Cuppa was in that folder and instantly grabbed my attention as being very seasonally appropriate. I tried to link her up but it looks like this Mae digi has disappeared from the new SOG website for some reason. I'm glad I got her when I did! As I was putting the card together with my pal Oreo by my side he inspired me to give Mae a feline friend as well. This little guy from the Mama Elephant Purrfect Pair set was the perfect size to make himself right at home. I think these two look like the best of friends. :)

Thursday, January 15, 2015

I've got another card for another challenge to share today. I saw that it was a birthday theme over at the Kraftin' Kimmie challenge this week so I couldn't wait to play along. The new KK fairies were still sitting on my desk and Sparkle Fairy looked like she would be perfect for celebrating a winter birthday... she's got that fab birthday crown and everything! I paired Sparkle up with the new Frosty Friends papers from Doodlebug because not only do I love the color combo in that stripe but there is an energy and playfulness that is just what I wanted for a fun and sparkly birthday card. There is actually a ton of sparkle on her outfit as well but the photo didn't pick up the shine there at all, so you'll just have to believe me when I say that all those stars sparkle like crazy. ;)

Ok then, I best be on my way. Another grey and gloomy day to look forward to I suppose. I'm trying not to let it get to me but a vacation to a tropical island sure does sound pretty dreamy right now. LOL

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Considering we are exactly one month away from Valentine's Day I thought it would be a good time to start getting some lovey dovey cards made. Surprisingly my first one out doesn't even feature a Valentine stamp. Instead I grabbed SSSC Sage from TGF, mostly because she may just be my absolute favorite SSSC stamp to date. The look on her sweet face is pure joy! I altered Sage a tiny bit to make her work for the theme by adding the heart to her hand and covering the little skull in her bow with a puffy heart. I paired her up with the fun sentiment from Paper Smooches and voila... cutsie wootsie Valentine done! LOL

Ok, time to scoot my boot.See ya tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel. ;)

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Yesterday's card got me thinking about challenges and how I should be looking for more of them to enter. Whether it is for a bit of added design guidance and direction or just a bonus incentive to use certain stamps I think adding a few back into my new routine will be a big help. So before I settled on a stamp for today's card I went and checked out some of my old haunts. When I saw the "Anything Goes" challenge over at the Sugar Bowl I decided to play along.

I ended up going with the super cute My Best Friend stamp from their Scrapberry's range of clear stamps. I've had her for ages and it felt so good to finally ink this little lady and her furry friend up. Surprise, surprise... another CAS design but with a larger stamp like this I really didn't want to clutter it up too much. The papers are a classic favorite of mine from Basic Grey, I still believe a girl can never have too much orange and it is especially pretty when paired up with this soft mint color. :)

Well, I guess I should wrap this up and get myself ready for work.Laters!

Monday, January 12, 2015

Hope this Monday is treating you well. I'm still hoping for a bit of sunshine but other than that you'll get no complaints from me. :)

Speaking of sunshine, or rather, the lack there of... I made my card today for this week's Farm Fresh Challenge over at TGF. The theme is, "It's cold outside" and as soon as I saw that I immediately knew who and what I would be using. I have fallen in love with these new My Kid stamps and think they are absolutely precious. Seriously, I wanted to pinch this little guy's cheeks as I was coloring him up, LOL! All bundled up like he is I grabbed some papers to set the perfect cold outside scene for him to inhabit. The house print is actually from the Pebbles Christmas collection, which was probably my fave release this past holiday. And since I didn't get around to making any Christmas cards I'm so happy I still got a chance to cut into some of it and get it on a card. The sentiment was an easy pick as well considering is outstretched arms... awww. :)

As simple as it is I'm still really happy with how this one came together. I guess I'm just in a CAS kind of mentality as I'm getting my crafty groove back. There's certainly no shame in that game though if I want to start using up more of the embellies and papers that I've collected over the years I may want to get a bit more generous with my card designs. ;)

Friday, January 9, 2015

If I don't get some sunshine soon I think that I'm going to go a bit stir crazy. Too many grey days are wearing me down and zapping my energy and all my good intentions. After the vet appointment, laundry, dirty dishes and too much procrastination I didn't spend near as much time in my crafty room as I had hoped. Luckily as I was sitting at my desk, giving Oreo the belly rubs he loves so much, I noticed this little Sea Bean from the Greeting Farm Bean set that I had colored up way back in June. She never made it on a card because I couldn't find the paper that I wanted to use with her and then my crafting got side tracked. And while I still haven't found the paper I originally wanted to use I think it worked out for the best because in the meantime I had gotten this super cute paper from Bella Blvd... love it! It's amazing how quickly the card came together after that and I'm so glad Sea Bean has finally made it on a card. :)

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Today should be a pretty uneventful day off for me. Smokey has a vet appointment for vaccination shots this morning but other than that not much is happening. The weather has been so grey and blah all week that I'm looking forward to some more time in the crafty room. It's going to be a long slog getting it back into tip top shape so any little bit of cleaning and organizing helps.

My card today uses the Will You Be Mine Pure Innocence from My Favorite Things. I altered her just a bit by giving her a long sleeved shirt but that's it. I've been anxious to use that 'hello' paper ever since I went a bit crazy and got like three sheets of it. But come on, how perfect is it for card making? The sweet envelopes and sentiment come from the Sending Happy Thoughts set by Simon Says and I think they compliment this little PI cutie perfectly. :)

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

I don't have much to say this morning and a busy day ahead so this post will be a quickie. It's a card for my sister to sell in her grooming salon featuring the little wiener dog from the SOG Preppy Pups set. It was also an excuse to use the new sentiment and die that I collected during my break from crafting (if not a buying break, LOL). I added a thick layer of Glossy Accents to the die cut to make is super shiny. And Tracy will like that it is nice and flat for mailing.

Next I just wanted to share a couple pics of the newest member to join the Young family... Smokey Joe. I adopted him from the local Humane Society for my birthday in November and while I love him to bits he is still learning how to be a good crafty cat. There isn't a thing on my desk that is safe from his pouncing and pawing... including poor Oreo, LOL!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

I've had my eye on the new winter fairies from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps for a few months but it wasn't until I noticed that CC Designs had them in stock that I bit the bullet and added them to my stamp collection. Considering the snowfall we got this past weekend I thought it was appropriate that Snowball Fairy would be the first of the four to make it on to a card. I paired her up with this photo realistic paper that was actually my least favorite of the pad when I first flipped through it. Funny how that goes... so often they papers I'm kinda 'meh' on are the first to get used and in a way that makes me love them. I really think that snowy forest was meant to be Snowball's home. ;)

Because the print is pretty monochromatic I was able to choose whichever Copic colors that I wanted. Since I rarely use the BV family I figured this was a great chance to give them a workout. The end result is a lovely periwinkle hued Snowball fairy. The way that Snowball's left hand is positioned I thought it would be cool to make it look like she is sprinkling snowflakes around the sentiment. So I grabbed a white Wink of Stella pen and some tiny snowflake punches to pull the whole look together.

It is a simple and fairly flat card (great for mailing, LOL) but I gotta say that I feel like this one was the start of getting my groove back. This makes me a very happy camper. :)

Monday, January 5, 2015

I enjoyed my weekend and I hope you all did as well. Yesterday I made the trip into town to see the newest Hobbit movie in the theater. I absolutely loved it which made the hour drive there and hour drive back home totally worth it. I'm such a Tolkien nerd that I've now proudly seen all six of the LOTR and Hobbit movies in the theater. I don't go often, in fact only about once a year, but these amazing films get me to overlook the ridiculous ticket prices. I'm actually more than a bit sad that there will be no new adventures in Middle Earth to look forward to. :(Because of this trek into town I didn't get a chance to sit down and make a card over the weekend. Luckily I had this card made and ready to go. Though to be honest I didn't think I would ever be sharing it. I made this all the way back in September just before my attempt at a blogging comeback was interrupted by the kitchen remodel. As a member of the TGF SS Stamp Club I had gotten Cheeky Sweet and since I love me some Cheekies I was anxious to play with a bit of altering out the giant cupcake she originally holds and get her on a card. Unfortunately it had been a few months since I had used my copics and a couple of the browns that I used on her hair were acting all streaky and funky. The end result is rough with a capital R and I am not happy with it at all. Now that I've gotten my markers cleaned and re-inked I guess it just gives me a reason to ink her up and try again.

Okey dokey, I'm off to get my hair cut this morning and then I'll be in the crafty room watching the snow fall.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Wow! Thank you for such a warm welcome back. It was a pleasant surprise after my six month hiatus from not just blogging but coloring and card making all together. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've been a bit nervous about jumping back into it. My coloring skills are more than a little rusty but it feels good to hold a copic in my hand again so I'm just gonna let it be what it will be until I'm fully back in the groove. ;)

Yesterday I promised a brief explanation of my absence and first things first, the family is all healthy and happy. No new health scares or anything worse befell us in 2014, everything is good in that regard. And no, I wasn't kidnapped by pirates... though if we are talking Captain Jack Sparrow, I certainly wouldn't have minded that scenario. LOLSeriously though, it wasn't any one big thing that knocked me out of commission but more like a hundred different things. I certainly never intended to take such a long break from crafting and creating but each time I tried diving back into it something else seemed to come up. And before I new it the new year was hear. There was good, an entire kitchen remodel. There was bad, a leaky roof right into my craft room. There was work stuff and there was play stuff. Dog stuff and cat stuff (my senior aged yorkie is diabetic and has gone blind and a new kitten recently joined the family). My camera is on the fritz (hence the slightly fuzzy pics) but my Kindle is working just fine (hello Outlander series). And just a need to cut back on my internet time for a while.

Now I'm ready to dive back into card making, refreshed and ready to use some of the stamps I've recently acquired in anticipation of my return. Like Honey here from Roberto's Rascals. I love her winter style! Unfortunately when I started coloring her up I realized that my Copic color chart is MIA after the roof leak that I previously mentioned. It must have gotten lost in the clean-up and I felt like I was coloring blind without that trusty piece of paper. So the blend on her sweater isn't as smooth as it could have been but I'm going to take some time this weekend to make a new chart and be better prepared for next week's cards. Which brings me to one key change that I will be making around here. I know in the past that I've kept this blog going with posts seven days a week but this year I am cutting back to five days, taking the weekends off for other things. I think this will help stave off possible burn out and keep me fresh and excited to be here doing my thing and sharing it with all of you.

So thanks again and enjoy your weekend... I'll see ya again on Monday. :)